Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Upgrade Guide

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Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Upgrade Guide

Upgrade the software image on a device

Updated: July 1, 2026

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Configure a device to use a new software image by following the upgrade process in the Cisco SD-WAN Manager. This ensures your device runs the latest supported version and maintains compatibility and security.

Upgrade the software image on a device to ensure it operates with the latest features, security updates, and compatibility improvements.

  • Keep devices up to date with supported software versions.

  • Maintain device stability and security.

This task is relevant when you need to update the software image on Cisco SD-WAN devices using the Cisco SD-WAN Manager interface. Upgrading is necessary to access new features, resolve bugs, and maintain support compliance.

  • This procedure does not enable downgrading to an older software version. If you need to downgrade, see Downgrade a Cisco vEdge Device to an Older Software Image in the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Getting Started Guide.

  • If you want to perform a Cisco SD-WAN Manager cluster upgrade see, Upgrade Cisco SD-WAN Manager Cluster.

  • Starting from Cisco vManage Release 20.11.1, before upgrading the configuration database, ensure that you verify the database size. We recommend that the database size is less than or equal to 5 GB. To verify the database size, use the following diagnostic command:

    request nms configuration-db diagnostics

  • You may experience GUI upgrade failures due to incorrect database member count checks in single-node/cloud deployments. To resolve this, opt for the CLI upgrade method instead.

Before you begin

Ensure you have access to Cisco SD-WAN Manager and that the device is reachable and eligible for upgrade. Verify the database size if upgrading the configuration database as described above.

  • Check that the device is not running a version higher than the controller device to avoid incompatibility warnings.

  • For Cisco CSR1000V or Cisco ISRv devices upgrading to Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.4.1a or later, note that the device will be upgraded to a Cisco Catalyst 8000V.

Follow these steps to upgrade the software image on a device:

Procedure

  1. From the Cisco SD-WAN Manager menu, choose Maintenance > Software Upgrade.

  2. Click WAN Edge, Control Components, or Manager based on the type of device for which you wish to upgrade the software.

  3. In the table of devices, select the devices to upgrade by selecting the check box on the far left.

    Note
    While upgrading Cisco SD-WAN Manager clusters, select all the nodes of the cluster in the table.

  4. Click Upgrade.

  5. In the Software Upgrade slide-in pane, do as follows:

    1. Choose the server from which the device should download the image: Manager, Remote Server, or Remote Server – Manager.

      • The Remote Server option is introduced in Cisco vManage Release 20.7.1. If you chose Remote Server, ensure that the device can reach the remote server.

      • Starting from Cisco vManage Release 20.9.1, when downloading an image from a remote server manually, ensure that only these valid characters are used:

        • User ID: a-z, 0-9, ., _, -

        • Password: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _, *, ., +, =, %, -

        • URL Name or Path: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _, *, ., +, =, %, -, :, /, @, ?, ~

      Note

      Software images created before upgrading the Cisco SD-WAN Manager to version Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Release 20.18.1 lack platform family and version details. To use these images after the upgrade, edit them in Maintenance > Software Repository and add the required platform family and version information.

    2. For Manager, choose the image version from the Version drop-down list.
    3. For Remote Server – Manager, choose the Manager OOB VPN from the drop-down list and choose the image version from the Version drop-down list.
    4. For Remote Server, configure the following:
      Remote Server Name Choose the remote server that has the image.
      Image Filename Choose the image filename from the drop-down list.
    5. Check the Activate and Reboot check box.

      If you do not check this check box, the software image is downloaded and installed on the device, but the image is not activated, and the device is not rebooted. You must activate the image after the upgrade task is completed.

    6. Click Upgrade.

      The device restarts, using the new software version, preserving the current device configuration. The Task View page opens, showing the progress of the upgrade on the devices.

  6. Wait for the upgrade process, which takes several minutes, to complete. When the Status column indicates Success, the upgrade is complete.

  7. From the Cisco SD-WAN Manager menu, choose Maintenance > Software Upgrade and view the devices.

  8. Click WAN Edge, Controller, or Manager based on the type of device for which you wish to upgrade the software.

  9. In the table of devices, confirm that the Current Version column for the upgraded devices shows the new version. Confirm that the Reachability column says reachable.

After completing the upgrade, the device runs the new software image, and the Current Version and Reachability columns confirm the upgrade and device status. The device configuration is preserved.

  • If the control connection to Cisco SD-WAN Manager does not come up within the configured time limit, Cisco SD-WAN Manager automatically reverts the device to the previously running software image. The configured time limit for all Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN devices to come up after a software upgrade is 5 minutes, except for Cisco vEdge devices, which have a default time of 12 minutes.

  • If you upgrade the Cisco vEdge device software to a version higher than that running on a controller device, a warning message is displayed that software incompatibilities might occur. It is recommended that you upgrade the controller software first before upgrading the Cisco vEdge device software.

  • When upgrading a Cisco CSR1000V or Cisco ISRv device to Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.4.1a or later, the software upgrade also upgrades the device to a Cisco Catalyst 8000V. After the upgrade, on the Devices page, the Chassis Number and Device Model columns show the device as a Cisco CSR1000V or Cisco ISRv, but the device has actually been upgraded to a Cisco Catalyst 8000V. The reason for preserving the old name is to avoid invalidating licenses, and so on. To confirm that the device has been upgraded to a Cisco Catalyst 8000V, note that the Current Version column for the device indicates 17.4.1 or later.